Cometary Globule (or Tanuki)
CG 4 is one of a small number of objects classified as “Cometary Globules” because they have a round(ish) head and a tail – like a comet. We don’t have a good understanding of how these objects formed, but it cannot be a coincidence that most (or possibly all) of them are in the vicinity of the Vela supernova remnant, and their tails point back toward it. CG 4 is in the constellation Puppis, and is about 1,300 light-years from Earth. It is sometimes called “The Hand of God”. My daughter says it looks like a tanuki – Japanese for […]